Họp Thông Thiên Học ngày 1 tháng
2 năm 2014

A MEDIUM is an abnormally organised person in whom dislocation of the etheric
and dense bodies easily occurs. The Etheric Double, when extruded, largely
supplies the physical basis for “materialisations.”

Such materialised forms are usually strictly confined to the immediate
neighbourhood of the medium, the matter of which they are composed being
subject to an attraction which is constantly drawing it back to the body from
which it came, so that if kept away from the medium too long the figure
collapses, the matter which composes it instantly rushing back to its source.

Such forms are able to exist for a few moments only amidst the intense
vibrations of brilliant light.

The condition of mediumship is, on the whole, dangerous, and fortunately
comparatively rare : it gives rise to such nervous strain and disturbance.
When the Etheric Double is extruded, the double itself is rent in twain; the
whole of it could not be separated from the dense body without causing death,
since the life-force, or Prâna, cannot circulate without the presence of
etheric matter. Even the partial withdrawal of the double produces lethargy in
the dense body and almost suspends the vital activities : this dangerous
condition is usually followed by extreme exhaustion (see Chapter I., p. 5)

The terrible drain on the vitality, set up by a withdrawal of the means by
which the Prâna is circulated, is the reason why mediums are so often in a
state of collapse after a séance, and also why so many mediums eventually
become drunkards, stimulants being taken in order to satisfy the terrible
craving for support by the sudden loss of strength.

Sir William Crookes, on page 41 of his Researches, writes : “After witnessing
the painful state of nervous and bodily prostration in which some of these
experiments have left Mr. Home – after seeing him lying in almost fainting
condition on the floor, pale and speechless – I could scarcely doubt that the
evolution of psychic force is accompanied by a corresponding drain on vital
force.”

The condition closely resembles the shock which follows a surgical operation.

At a spiritual séance a clairvoyant can see the Etheric Double oozing usually
out of the left side of the medium, though sometimes from the whole surface of
the body, and it is this which often appears as the “materialised spirit”,
easily moulded into various shapes by the thoughts of the sitters, and gaining
strength and vitality as the medium sinks into a deep trance. Usually of
course, this takes place without any conscious effort on the part of the
sitters : it may, however, be achieved deliberately. Thus, H.P.Blavatsky
stated that during the remarkable phenomena at the Eddy homestead she
deliberately moulded the “spirit” form which appeared into various likenesses,
these being seen by the sitters present.

Although etheric matter, moulded into such “spirit” forms, is invisible to
ordinary sight, it may nevertheless be able to affect a photographic plate,
the latter being sensitive to certain wavelengths of light which leave the
human eye unaffected. This is the rationale of the many cases on record where
“spirit forms” have appeared on the negative of an ordinary photographic
portrait.

In addition, to the matter of the Etheric Double of the medium, it frequently
happens at séances that etheric matter is withdrawn also from the bodies of
the sitters : hence the lassitude frequently felt by those who attend such
séances.

It is only in conditions of perfect passivity that much matter can be
withdrawn from the physical body without danger to life. Although the medium
is usually conscious all the time in the background, yet any attempt to assert
the individuality, or to think connectedly, immediately weakens the
materialised form , or brings it back to the “cabinet.” A sudden shock or
disturbance, or any attempt to seize the “spirit form” is apt to be in the
highest degree dangerous and may even result in death.

In addition to the extrusion of etheric matter, in many cases the dense
physical matter, probably chiefly gases and liquids, is also removed at the
same time from the body of the medium. Many cases are on record where, during
a materialisation, the body of the medium shrivelled perceptibly, the
shrunken, wizened appearance of the face being said to be singularly ghastly
and unpleasant to see. By actual weighing, the physical body of the medium has
been found to be as much as 40 pounds less than normal, whilst the weight of
the materialised form has been found to be at least as much as the diminution
of the medium’s weight, and usually more than this, presumably owing to the
extraction of some dense matter from the bodies of the sitters. In one well
known case a materialised form carried the diminished body of the medium – Mr.
Eglington.

To an astral entity, who wishes to “manifest” himself or to produce some
phenomenon on the physical plane, a medium serves the purpose of providing the
necessary etheric matter, which acts as an intermediary to convey the astral
forces into physical matter.

A somewhat similar process takes place when a dead drunkard, hovering about a
gin-shop, draws round himself a veil of etheric matter, in order that he may
absorb the odour of the alcohol for which he craves. Being unable to smell
alcohol in the same way as we do, he tries to induce others to become drunk,
so that he may be able partially to enter their physical bodies and obsess
them, thus once more directly experiencing the taste and other sensations he
so ardently desires.

Sometimes only sufficient etheric is withdrawn from a medium to produce an
etheric hand, or even just sufficient of the fingers to hold a pencil and
write, or to enable “raps” to be made, objects to be overturned or moved, and
so forth. Usually, etheric matter, as well as dense physical matter, is
withdrawn from the medium and utilised so as to cover an astral shape just
sufficiently to make the latter visible to the sitters, the form seen thus not
being solid but merely a thin film.

“Spirit” drapery, however, so usual at séances, is frequently made from the
clothing of the medium or of a sitter. The texture may be quite coarse, or
exceedingly fine, finer in fact than any product of Eastern looms.
Occasionally such drapery may be removed from the séance room, sometimes
lasting for years, at other times fading away in an hour or so, or even in a
few minutes.

There can be no question that, except possibly in vary rare cases, and where
every possible precaution is taken, the practise of mediumship is harmful, and
may be exceedingly dangerous. Nevertheless, it must be admitted that by its
means large numbers of people have acquired knowledge of, or belief in, the
reality of the unseen world and of the continuance of life after death. On the
other hand, it may be urged that such knowledge or such belief could have been
secured in other and less harmful ways.

A trained occultist, for example, connected with any school of “white magic”,
would never interfere with the Etheric Double of any man in order to produce a
materialisation; nor would he disturb his own if he wished to make himself
visible at a distance. He would simply condense and build into and around his
astral body a sufficient quantity of the surrounding ether to materialise it,
and hold it in that form by an effort of will as long as he needed it.

Most “spirit guides” are well aware of the dangers to which their mediums are
exposed, and take every precaution in their power to protect the mediums. Even
the “spirits” themselves may occasionally suffer when, for example, a
materialised form is struck or wounded, owing to the intimate connection
established between the etheric matter of the materialised form and the astral
matter of the “spirit’s body.”

It is of course, true that no physical weapon could affect an astral body, but
an injury to a materialised form may be transmitted to the astral body by the
phenomenon known as "repercussion.”

Owing to the fact that during a materialisation matter may be borrowed from
all the sitters present as well as from the medium, a considerable
intermixture of such matter may take place, and consequently undesirable
qualities or vices in any one of the sitters are liable to react upon the
others and most of all upon the medium, who is most drawn upon and is almost
certainly the most sensitive person present. Nicotine and alcohol poisoning
appear to be especially liable to produce unpleasant effects in this manner.

Mediums of low type inevitably attract eminently undesirable astral entities,
who may reinforce their own vitality at the expense of mediums and sitters.
Such a “spook” may even attach itself to any one present, who is of low
development, with deplorable results.

As universal space, it is also known as Aditi, in which lies inherent the
eternal and continuously active ideation of the universe producing its
ever-changing aspects on the planes of matter and objectivity; and from this
ideation radiates the First Logos. This is why the Puranas state that akasa
has but one attribute, namely sound, for sound is but the translated symbol of
logos (speech) in its mystic sense. Akasa as primordial spatial substance is
thus the upadhi (vehicle) of divine thought. Further, it is the playground of
all the intelligent and semi-intelligent forces in nature, the fountainhead of
all terrestrial life, and the abode of the gods.

Akasa is the noumenon and spiritual substratum of differentiated prakriti,
otherwise the seven or ten prakritis, the root or roots of all in the
universe. These prakritis are not merely in akasa, but are the manifestations
of akasa in its various grades or degrees of evolutionary development. All the
ancient nations mythologically deified akasa in one or another of its aspects
and powers (cf IU 1:125 for a descriptive listing of the many names anciently
used for akasa). It is the indispensable agent in all religious or profane
magic: occult electricity, the universal solvent, in another aspect kundalini.
“Akasa is the mysterious fluid termed by scholastic science, ‘the
all-pervading ether’; it enters into all the magical operations of nature, and
produces mesmeric, magnetic, and spiritual phenomena. As, in Syria, Palestine,
and India, meant the sky, life, and the sun at the same time; the sun being
considered by the ancient sages as the great magnetic well of our universe”
(IU 1:140n).

Sometimes the astral light is used as a convenient but inaccurate phrase for
akasa. In clarifying the difference between these Blavatsky says: “The Astral
Light is that which mirrors the three higher planes of consciousness, and is
above the lower, or terrestrial plane; therefore it does not extend beyond the
fourth plane, where, one may say, the Akasa begins.

“There is one great difference between the Astral Light and the Akasa which
must be remembered. The latter is eternal, the former is periodic. The Astral
Light changes not only with the Mahamanvantaras but also with every sub-period
and planetary cycle or Round. . . .
“The Akasa is the eternal divine consciousness which cannot differentiate,
have qualities, or act; action belongs to that which is reflected or mirrored
from it. The unconditioned and infinite can have no relation with the finite
and conditioned. . . . We may compare the Akasa and the Astral Light . . . to
the germ in the acorn. The latter, besides containing in itself the astral
form of the future oak, conceals the germ from which grows a tree containing
millions of forms. These forms are contained in the acorn potentially, yet the
development of each particular acorn depends upon extraneous circumstances,
physical forces, etc.” (TBL 75-6; also IU 1:197).
The astral light is the tablet of memory of earth and of its child the
animal-man; while akasa is the tablet of memory of the hierarchy of the
planetary spirits controlling our chain of globes, and likewise of their
child, each spiritual ego. The astral light is simply the dregs or lowers
vehicles of akasa. Gautama Buddha held only two things as eternal: akasa and
nirvana. In the Chandogya Upanishad (7:12:1-2) akasa (ether, space) is equated
with Brahman.

Akasa-bhuta (Sanskrit) Ākāśa-bhūta [from ākāśa ether, space + bhūta element,
existing, being from the verbal root bhū to be, become] The aether element,
the Father-Mother element, third in the descending scale of seven cosmic
bhutas which in the Upanishads are reckoned as five, and in Buddhist writings
as four. Akasa-bhuta has its analog in the Third Logos, which because it is
formative or creative is called Father-Mother. Not the ether, which is merely
one of its lowest principles and only slightly more ethereal than physical
matter.

Akasa-sakti (Sanskrit) Ākāśa-śākti [from ākāśa ether, space + śakti power,
energy, from the verbal root śak to be strong, able] Used by Blavatsky for the
soul or energy of prakriti: “The Tibetan esoteric Buddhist doctrine teaches
that Prakriti is cosmic matter, out of which all visible forms are produced;
and Akasa that same cosmic matter — but still more imponderable, its spirit,
as it were, ‘Prakriti’ being the body or substance, and Akasa-Sakti its soul
or energy” (BCW 3:405n). Each divinity is supposed to have his sakti (active
energy), mythologically referred to as his consort or feminine counterpart.
Thus akasa-sakti is used as the akasa-power in the all-various
differentiations of prakriti.

Akasa-tattva (Sanskrit) Ākāśa-tattva [from ākāśa ether, space + tattva
thatness, reality from tat that] The brilliant, shining, spiritually luminous,
evolving substratum of nature; the third in the descending scale of the seven
tattvas. According to one manner of enumerating the cosmic procession of
consciousnesses, this tattva corresponds to the feminine aspect of the
creative or Third Logos; but as nature repeats itself constantly in its
processes of evolutionary unfolding, it is likewise proper to derive the
subordinate First Logos from akasa when it is considered as virtually
identical with mulaprakriti. In view of this repetitive functioning in nature,
it is important not to allow the mind to crystallize around any one definition
of a stage in any series of “descents” as being the only stage properly so
described. This is seen with the First Logos: adi-tattva, first of the five or
seven tattvas, may be called the First Logos; from another aspect the First
Logos is born from akasa-tattva as the formative or creative mental impulse.